March 2018

TV: Tennis

Sloane Stephens and Angelique Kerber meet in the quarterfinals of the tennis 2018 Miami Open.

Sloane Stephens is coming off a straight sets win over Garbine Muguruza that took 19 games to decide. In the victory, Stephens won 60 percent of her first serve points and 62 percent of her second serve points. Stephens now has 10 career wins over top-10 players and is coming off a match in which she won 53 percent of her return points against a great server. Stephens seems to have found her form this tournament and is playing some of her best tennis when she respects her opponent, as she’s more focused and makes less silly errors. Stephens hopes to make the semifinals of the Miami Open for the first time and just her third semifinal appearance in a WTA Premier Mandatory. Stephens has won six of her last seven quarterfinal matches overall. Stephens has won six of her last eight matches on hard court.

Angelique Kerber is coming off a three sets win over Yafan Wang that took 35 games to decide. In the victory, Kerber won 66 percent of her first serve points and 38 percent of her second serve points. Kerber really had to work in her fourth round victory that included two set tiebreaks and a lot of long rallies. Kerber showed a strong mental approach in her victory and is now i the quarterfinals in all three of the WTA Premier Mandatory tournaments this season. Kerber now must be far more consistent on her second serve if she hopes to advance to the semifinals this time. Kerber hopes to make the semifinals of the Miami Open for the second time ever and the first time since 2016. Kerber has won four of her last six quarterfinal matches overall. Kerber has won six of her last seven matches on hard court.

These two have played four times and Stephens has won three of those meetings. The most recent match was in the 2017 Canadian Masters, a match Stephens won in straight sets. Kerberos only win over Stephens came in the 2012 Indian Wells Masters, the first meeting.

Kerber is coming off a such a draining match in which she struggled with consistency, while Stephens was effective at both ends against one of the top players in the world. Stephens seems to rise to the occasion against quality competition and is having fun out there. Kerber gets frustrated at times and doesn’t like players who can push her around. This seems like a good spot to back the momentum of the American.

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